I never did like Facebook. In fact, I only joined the benighted data-grabber two years after I started tweeting. Perhaps this reluctance was an indication of my desire to communicate, rather than staying up to date with my friends’ latest FarmVille scores. Maybe I didn’t want to be the plaything of an advertising network. Or, I suppose that Zuckerberg might have been right, and I really was so darned anti-social that I detested my friends and never wanted to see their annoying faces again [note: sarcasm].

All the same, I joined. And now, I’ve had enough.

Except, there’s a problem with the Facebook-leaving sentiment, however appealing, fashionable and written about it might be. When you delete your account (…he says, as if such a thing were possible…), you’ll still want to keep in touch with your close friends when you can’t see them, and with your relatives on the other side of the world, who still want to see your latest pictures. You’re going to have to find an alternative.

It’s Productivity Month on iPad.AppStorm! Throughout July, we plan to share with you all our tips, tricks, apps and resources to help you both improve your iPad experience and work better and more productively!

Quip was released today. Yes, today. And so we thought we’d get straight to work reviewing the iPad version of this freshly released app, developed by the ex-Facebook CTO and co-founder of Google Maps Bret Taylor, for your reading pleasure.

The app lets you collaborate with other users on projects that you’re working on — it’s a sort of word processor/project manager/ messaging system all rolled into one neat package. Quip also has a lot more features and uses that certainly make it worth your time checking it out. So, when you’re ready, click more to read on.

Flipboard exemplifies the modern, successful application. Since its release, it has outwitted some of the most successful magazine and news organizations of the century. Many attribute its success to the innovative interface, which combines elements found in high-profile magazines with the fluidity of modern digital design, but others find the very idea behind the app to be the most intriguing aspect. The premise of Flipboard is obvious: in an age when opening a Twitter client also downloads a deluge of updates and information, Flipboard automatically sifts through the rubble and reveals only the truly great content hiding in the mundane updates that populate modern social networks. (more…)

When I was in my third year of university, I became a professional procrastinator. By that, I mean that I had no work and no reason to find work because I was too “busy” with school and prepping for exams. And what that really meant was that I was too “busy” playing Flash-based games on an old MacBook. This was back when Facebook gaming was still a popular thing.

In that day, I was completely hooked on a game called Solitaire Blitz, which now has a universal iPhone/iPad app and is available for free in the App Store. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pick up the game and try it out again, and see how I felt about it a couple years later on a different platform. And how well can a free game filled with in-app purchases designed for a mouse translate to a touch screen? Read on to find out more.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Facebook’s announcement yesterday at their headquarters in Menlo Park, California, didn’t get me stoked up one bit. I didn’t even realise it had started until I checked my Twitter during a break from revision in my university’s library and discovered that the event had temporarily hijacked my feed. So, to procrastinate a bit, I started watching the live feed and reading a bit more about it on various technology blogs. The results, unfortunately, didn’t impress.

Right now, there are two huge trends in app development: weather apps and email apps. I get more emails about weather apps and email apps than I know what to do with. I’m not complaining, though. These developers are often making really impressive apps but, apart from great user interfaces, I fail to see what they’re really putting their tech-savvy skills to use with. Interfaces are great, but they could be outdone anytime Apple decides to update their own Weather or Mail apps. Sometimes, these apps are a little short on features.

Cloze is the exact opposite. It’s a free universal app for iPhone and iPad that combines email and social media updates into one centralized feed. What really excites me is that Cloze doesn’t think the problem lies within the communication’s interfaces but rather within the interface’s management of communication. Combining email and social feeds has been tried before by a few other developers, but I’ve never felt it’s been executed well. Let’s face it, making an app like this is tough. Does Cloze have the technical knowhow and design skills to make their app user-friendly and feature-filled? Let’s find out.

When popular Facebook games hit the App Store, it’s always fun to see what their iOS counterparts are like. Candy Crush Saga has long been a Facebook favorite, but just recently made its debut for the iPhone and iPad. Find out what made Candy Crush Saga quickly reach the top of the App Store charts right after the break. (more…)

As fun as social networks can be, they can be equally (if not more) daunting to maintain. Between Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Foursquare, Tumblr, Pinterest and many more, it’s hard to find time to keep tabs on everything. When I load up my Twitter feed and see 100+ new tweets, part of me feels it’s not worth the hassle, but another part worries that I may miss something worthwhile.

The tools I use to consume social media content on my iPad (Facebook, Tweetbot, Google+) are all well designed for the most part and aren’t really the issue. The real issue is the content that’s present on my feeds. Most of the posts I encounter are really enjoyable, but I also have endure posts without any real substance, which in turn degrades my experience.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a tool that weeded out the “noise” and left only the good stuff. ThusFresh, Inc. believe they have made such a tool with Undrip. Hit to jump to see if it really works as advertised. (more…)

If you’re a trivia fan, you’ll be happy to know that the makers of Trivi.al have introduced an app to fulfil your trivia needs amongst your friends. Instead of sitting at home answering questions online, you can now compete with tons of people and outsmart them using your general knowledge.

Trivi.al is doing what Rumble did for Boggle by digitising a classic form of entertainment and making it more accessible to the world, enhancing the experience due to the competition you have. Let’s take a look at what this app is all about. (more…)

A few years ago, not a lot of us would have foreseen a social revolution. Social networks have brought everyone closer, albeit virtually. People have got this craving to share every step of their life with others and they do so in way too many places. From message boards and chatrooms to Twitter and Facebook, connecting and sharing happens round the clock.

There is no single app to bottle the social monster. You will need a bunch of them and to our delight, there are so many of them in the app store. But which ones are the best? That’s an intense debate for another time. But for the time being, we have compiled a list of cool apps that would serve all your social sharing needs. Do read on!